“30 Years of Gowanus” Companion Book

“30 Years of Gowanus” by Mark D Phillips, a coffee-table sized companion book is available.

“30 Years of Gowanus” contains images ranging from 1989 to 2018. His photographs of shapes within the oil slicks are captivating, with the pollution forming Africa, the foot of a Greek God, and an obvious woman’s body.

Description

“30 Years of Gowanus” Companion Book

“30 Years of Gowanus” is the companion book to the Gowanus Open Studios 2018 exhibit of the same name by Mark D Phillips presented by MoversNotShakers and South Brooklyn Internet.

With 45 images from 1989 to 2018, it is a look into Brooklyn’s Superfund site surrounded by some of the most expensive real estate in America. In the earliest photograph, the twin towers of the World Trade Center could be seen over a landscape that no longer exists. From its gritty past of abandoned warehouses and equipment, and the ever present signs of pollution, the beauty Mark found is captured in his photographs.

His images from the oil slicks capture shapes that lasted for sometimes seconds, creating works of art that will never be seen again once the dredging and sealing of the contaminated canal bottom is completed by the EPA during the Superfund cleanup. Life survives even now in the waters of the Gowanus, locals canoe on its surface, and new developments are coming to its banks.